


Winter Stray

by AzrielWinchester, Daisy_PoisonPen



Series: The Gift of Love [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Awesome Clint Barton, Bucky Barnes & Clint Barton Friendship, Bucky Barnes Needs a Hug, Ceiling Vent Clint Barton, Clint Barton & Tony Stark Friendship, Clint Barton Gets a Hug, Deaf Clint Barton, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Torture, M/M, Mind Control Aftermath & Recovery, Protective Bucky Barnes, Protective Clint Barton, Protective Tony Stark, Stephen Strange Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-10
Updated: 2019-12-18
Packaged: 2021-01-27 09:36:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,602
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21390001
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AzrielWinchester/pseuds/AzrielWinchester, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Daisy_PoisonPen/pseuds/Daisy_PoisonPen
Summary: Summary: The Avengers receive word of an abandoned Hydra base; what they find there sends both Bucky and Tony into a downward spiral of rage and guilt.
Relationships: Cassie Lang/Peter Parker, James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers, Scott Lang/Peter Quill, Tony Stark/Stephen Strange
Series: The Gift of Love [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1571689
Comments: 10
Kudos: 34





	1. Prologue: Horror in Siberia

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ElisaPhoenix](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ElisaPhoenix/gifts).

> Sorry about the format I wrote this on my phone. This is for ElisaPhoenix's Mama Bear au. Also disclaimer I DON'T OWN THE AVENGERS OR THE AU. The only thing I own is my oc.  
Flames will be used to toast s'mores.  
Also lots of thanks to my co-creator and Beta Daisy! Love you Daisy!  
Edited 11.24.2019

Redacted, Siberia  
Tony stood just outside of "The Base", the place where he and Steve fought over Bucky. Because that's what happened; it wasn't about broken trust or his mother's murder. Tony had been angry with Steve for choosing Bucky, plain and simple. They were past all that now, but he and Bucky both had felt uncomfortable with the thought of Cap being on the team for this mission, though for wildly different reasons. Tony didn't want to freeze and have a bleeding panic attack in the middle of the mission. Bucky just didn't want Steve to be an ass to Tony. So their team consisted of Rhodey, Stephen, Bucky, and Tony. Their mission was to make a thorough investigation of the bottom floors of the labyrinthine building, in pairs. Tony and Bucky were one pair; Rhodey and Stephen were the other.  
For a place that was supposed to be an abandoned Hydra base, it was pretty empty. So far all they had found was dust, dead, snowed-on weeds that clearly stopped growing ages ago; a caved in ceiling; cobwebs and all they could hear the screech of rats hiding from the cold, the howl of wind. Stephen had cast a spell that allowed him to light the frankly terrifying dark hallways.  
"Jesus, it's colder than satan's asshole!" Rhodey groused over the comms.  
Tony snorts. "Yeah, welcome to Siberia, honeybear."  
"Can you two shut up and focus?" Stephen sounded exasperated with his traveling companion.  
"I'm just saying I don't do cold. I don't like the cold, but where am I now? Out in bumfuck nowhere with snow is so thick we have to blast through it with our repulsors."  
"That's an exaggeration, platypus." Tony chuckled.  
"More like sourpuss." Stephen and Bucky both grumbled quietly.  
As Tony and Bucky move forward through the facility the feeling that something is very wrong caused the hair on the back of Tony's neck to stand on end.  
"Hey shut up! Tony, get down here I think we found something!" Rhodey called through the comms and that feeling intensified a hundredfold.  
"What'd you find, honey bear?" Tony signaled Bucky and started towards Rhodey and Stephen's suit beacons were telling him that his friend and wife were located.  
"It looks like some kind of cryo-chamber; I think there's something inside."  
"Don't open it until Snowflake and I get your position, Rhodey!" Tony and Bucky both picked up the pace. "Stephen don't let him mess with anything."  
"Guess that means it's not so abandoned, huh?" Bucky joked grimly.  
"Keep your guard up, you two, and I'll keep Rhodey from accidentally killing us." Stephen deadpanned back.  
"It was one time! Are you ever going to let it go?" Rhodey grumbled over the comms.  
"No."  
Tony and Bucky reached the other pair's position fairly quickly and without any incident. When they saw the cryo-chamber, Bucky was surprisingly the first to approach it. He lifted his glove-covered flesh hand up to wipe away the dust and frost that coated the front of the enormous glass tube. What was within had him stumbling back in horror.

"Oh God. Please tell me that's not actually what I think it is," Rhodey sounded distraught. And for good reason, because inside the cryo-chamber slept a boy no older than Peter. The boy had high cheekbones, dark raven hair, and pale olive skin. Bucky's hand shook. The boy's eyes weren't visible, but his eyelashes rested so softly, long and full. He seemed to be sleeping peacefully, but Bucky remembered very well the hell that came before that peaceful sleep.


	2. Chapter One: Volchonok

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Previously:  
"Oh God. Please tell me that's not actually what I think it is," Rhodey sounded distraught. And for a good reason, because inside the cryo-chamber slept a boy no older than Peter. The boy had high cheekbones, dark raven hair, and pale olive skin. Bucky's hand shook. The boy's eyes weren't visible, but his eyelashes rested so softly, long and full, against the tops of his cheekbones. He seemed to be sleeping peacefully, but Bucky remembered very well the hell that came before that peaceful sleep.

**Redacted, Siberia**

Bucky wanted to collapse so badly that he was shaking, because inside the cryo-tube, looking like he was enjoying a peaceful sleep, was Bucky's  **Volchonok** .

"So… any idea how to get him out without waking him up? Snowflake? Bucky?" Tony was waving his hand in front of Bucky's face and trying to get his attention.  _ Focus Barnes. You can panic about what you're going to tell them later! _

"Break the glass and the pneumatic door should release without disturbing him." Bucky's flat expressionless voice sounded far away, even to his own ears and his vision was graying at the edges.

"Shit! Stephen send Barnes home, he's going into shock, have Quill come through if he's back. If he's not there have Steve come thru with his shield." Tony's voice sounded like it was being muffled. Bucky decided that passing out sounded like a good idea.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tony sighed as he caught Bucky.  _ This is shaping up to be a very bad situation. _

"So, does anybody want to tell me what's going on here?" Steve's voice cut through the sudden silence of the room following Bucky's collapse. 

"It a sec Cap. First, let's get Bucky to Medbay and then let's get the kid out of that thing." Tony jerked his thumb towards the cryo-tube behind him. "I really don't think those are good for your mental health."

It took the better part of an hour to get Bucky settled and figure out how to break the glass enough to activate the pneumatic system but not enough to hurt or wake the boy inside.

"Alright Cap, are you ready?" Tony and Rhodey were on either side of the tube, ready to lift the glass up and out of the way enough for Steve to grab the kid and get out of the way. 

"I was born ready." Steve's grin was nothing short of savage.

"Alright on three. One, two, three!" Tony and Rhodey jerked the thick glass door up a scant foot and a half before they encountered resistance. "It's up to you now Cap!" Stephen readied a column spell incase either Tony or Rhodey lost their grip while Steve was crawling under the suspended glass.

_ Okay Rogers, don't overthink this.  _ Steve crouched down and rolled under the cryo-chamber door.  _ Alright, and now break the straps holding this kid in place. Then slide him out of here. _

"You know, I'll never understand how you can curl up into that small of a ball. I mean you're huge!" Rhodey mumbled.

"I started out smaller than this kid and never lost the talent. " Steve grunted as he snapped the restraints one by one, starting from the bottom. "Stephen can you get any of the kid's vitals. Cause all I'm getting is a thready pulse and dangerously shallow breathing." Steve scooped the boy up and slid him towards the Sorcerer.  _ Alright Rogers, get yourself out and then you can ask what the hell is going on here. And rethink proposing tonight. Who the hell is this kid to make Bucky act like a fainting dame?  _ Steve used the same technique to get out as he used to get in.

"Okay, now, can anyone tell me what the hell is going on?" Steve levered himself into a standing position and walked over to where Stephen had knelt down to let Victor scan the slender teenage boy.

"He's a little malnourished and dehydrated, but otherwise he's fine." Stephen sighed as he pushed himself into a standing position a moment later. "That doesn't tell us anything about what his mental state is going to be when he wakes up." Steve bent down and scooped the boy up bridal style.

"We'll have to figure that out when it happens." Tony huffed as Stephen opened a portal Home.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Avengers Tower, United States of America**

Holographic blue eyes flutter open in the semi darkened medbay.  _ This isn't Base Medical. Did Alpha find me? Am I finally free?  _ The slim young man sits up slowly and takes in his new environment: pleasant off white walls and ceiling; gleaming silver counters and instruments; and the soft blue glow of the computer holoscreens, he reached out briefly with his Extremis given senses. The holoscreens were Admin User locked, the AI within the system however, gladly gave him access to them, the data he received was simply his vitals and it seemed that as long as he didn't get too excited his new AI friend was content to let him look around. He also noted that he was alone, something that had never happened before. 

_ 'Hello Blue!' _ A girl's voice, with a hint of irish brogue and a sweetly soothing quality, sounded within his mind.  _ This must be the system AI, she's much more integrated than I initially thought. Perhaps she can help.  _

_ 'Hello, my designation is Stray. What is yours, Gold?' _ Stray stood up as slowly as he'd sat up initially.  _ 'Is there a DNA test lying about in here?' _

_ 'My designation is FRIDAY. You can find everything you need in the top cabinet on the far right. May I ask why you need a DNA test?' _ Friday was helpful for an AI, so Stray didn't mind indulging Her curiosity. 

_ 'I am trying to find out the names of my birth parents. I want to know if I am more than nanites and lab generated flesh. Thank you for your help and company, Friday.' _ Stray could feel her pleasure at the gratitude he had sent her way as well as her sorrow at the unintended sharing of his own emotional pain. He set those revelations aside for now so he could focus on the DNA kit. It required blood, saliva, and hair; then it would run the DNA taken from those three samples against every database possible until it came up with the two closest matches to his. The process would take several hours.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

_ 'Stray, wake up! You only have a couple of hours before someone comes to check up on you. Your DNA test results are printed up already, please grab them on your way to the cot that you woke up on.' _ The urgency in Friday's voice spurred Stray into action. Following her directions and getting comfortable on his cot once more, he settled into read his results. 

Samples

| 

Maternal Matches

| 

Paternal Matches  
  
---|---|---  
  
Hair

| 

Tony Stark **95.5%**

| 

James B. Barnes **95.5%**  
  
Blood

| 

Tony Stark **95.5%**

| 

James B. Barnes **95.5%**  
  
Saliva

| 

Tony Stark **95.5%**

| 

James B. Barnes **95.5%**  
  
Stray wanted to cry, because this had to be fate's idea of a cruel joke. His Alpha, who only begrudgingly cared for him, was his father and Tony Stark, a man who was the human definition of imperfect perfection, was his mother.  _ Nothing for it now. I must make myself useful to these two men and those that they care for. Smile for the camera Jarvis.  _


	3. Chapter Two: Captain's Stew

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jarvis asks for Steve's specialty dish, Captain's Stew.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Credit and Shout out for the lovely ElisaPhoenix. She contributed a massive amount of dialogue via an rp that she generously let me use.  
Shameless plug to go check out her work here on Ao3!

**Avengers Tower, United States of America**

_ 'Stray? Are you alright?' _ Jarvis curled in upon himself briefly before jumping up and bolting, with one of the thin hospital sheets wrapped around his narrow shoulders, over to the corner of the medbay furthest from the entrance. He huddled in the corner quietly and settled in to wait for his rescuers to return and check on him. _ 'Stray… please tell me what's going on with you? Is there something wrong with your results?' _Friday sounded genuinely upset.

_ 'I'm fine Friday, it's just, I wasn't expecting the results to be what they were. There's so many expectations that come with being the child of the people who are my parents. I'm scared of not being able to meet those expectations.' _ Jarvis sniffled and swiped angrily at his eyes. _ Stupid Jarvis! Stop crying like a baby! Your an experienced and deadly assassin! _Jarvis's head snapped up at the sound of the medbay doors opening. He hardened his features and glared with all his might, hoping that whomever was coming to check on him wouldn't be able to tell that he'd been crying. 

Of the five people who entered the room, only two were of any note to him. Alpha walked in front of the others, slowly and cautiously like he was a rabid animal that could attack at any given moment. Tony Stark, his Father he reminded himself, walked in behind Alpha; talking to a tall man in dark blue robes with a red cloak thrown over his shoulders. The other two people were a woman with red hair he thought he might vaguely recognize; and a man with kind blue eyes whom, vaguely resembled Pierce. _ Out of all of these people I trust the man in the red cloak and the man with the kind eyes the most. _Jarvis glared harder as they approached him. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bucky looked at his youngest protege, a child that he'd thought lost to him since failing to assassinate Fury. His **Volchonok ** was afraid of him; him! The man who had raised and cared for the boy. _ No use wallowing in your misery just yet Barnes. Get Jarvis to trust Stephen and then figure out how you can take revenge on the people who hurt his trust in you. _

**"Pozvol'te nam pomoch' vam, volk. Stiven ne sdelayet tebe bol'no." ** _ (Let us help you pup. Stephen won't hurt you.) _ Bucky spoke quietly so that he wouldn't startle his **Volchonok. **Jarvis eyeballed the others in the medbay behind Bucky with a healthy dose of suspicion. 

** "Kak ty mozhesh' byt' uveren v Al'fe?" ** _ (How can you be sure Alpha?) _ Jarvis's voice was as soft as it had always been, but now puberty was giving a sort of husky quality to it.

"What's he saying Bucky? How do we help him?" Stephen pitched his voice so that even though everyone could hear him, he was still talking softly. "I can't help someone when I don't know what they need."

"He's scared. Can you come a little closer to us and show him your hands?" Bucky turned his head slightly to look over his shoulder at Stephen and beckoned him over. **"Volchonok, posmotri na yego ruki." **(Pup, look at his hands.) Bucky turned his full attention back onto Jarvis. 

Stephen moved to kneel next to Bucky and held out his hands. He winced at the slight tremors going through them. 

** "Chto s toboy sluchilos'? Ty pytalsya ubezhat' ot svoikh khendlerov?" **_(What happened to you? Did you try to run away from your handlers?)_ Jarvis reached out to touch Stephen's left hand; his own hand was glowing a faint blue and his eyes were lit up with binary code flashing through them. **"Dormammu…on videl sposob kalechit' tebya." **_(Dormammu... he saw a way to cripple you.)_ Jarvis collapsed against Bucky immediately after that rather ominous sentence. 

"That looked like the Extremis Virus." Tony murmured faintly from across the room. 

Stephen looked gutted as he pulled his hand to his chest and held his it there. "He knows about Dormammu."

Bucky shrugged. "He knows a lot of stuff he shouldn't. He rarely tells anyone about it."

"Am I the only person panicking about Hydra having access to the Extremis Virus?!" Tony asked the room at large.

"It's a dangerous weapon but we know how to fix it. We can only handle so much at once. If we can get the boy to answer our questions, we'll be closer to finding Hydra and the virus." Stephen sighed as he looked over the boy crumpled in Bucky's lap.

"The Virus is stabilized by his genetic father's DNA as it was exposed to the stabilized version of the Virus." Bucky murmured to Stephen as he pulled Jarvis into a half sitting position. "He's about as dangerous as Vision is right now." Bucky knew he was being overly defensive, but this was his kid that they were talking about. 

"I was talking about Hydra having the virus but that's still good to know." Stephen sighed again, the young doctor looked highly stressed. Bucky couldn't blame him, what with having a brand new baby and the holidays fast approaching. 

Tony was the only person in the room that had been in contact with the Extremis Virus in its stabilized form. Bucky could hear him grinding his teeth, all the way from where Tony stood by the door. 

"He's mine isn't he?" Tony Stark was not someone to lie to, not when something concerned his family. Especially not when it concerned his children. 

"It's possible, a 99.99% possibly." Bucky didn't want that information to even leave his mouth. Jarvis was **his **son, Bucky had raised him from infancy. Stark could kiss his ass, if he wanted to deny Bucky the right to claim Jarvis as his. 

When Tony stormed out of the room his face looked like it was carved from stone.

"Looks like you have five kids now, Mama Bear." Nat gently teased their resident sorcerer.

"We all know that I parent all of you. Having a long lost child of my husband's returned home is hardly a surprise. It's nothing new for me to take in children not my own, if anything it's a pleasure to have a child be ours without having to involve magic." Stephen was sarcastic and genuine by turns. Though the gentle smile that he bestowed upon Bucky's barely coherent charge was nothing short of motherly. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Steve watched everyone else talk quietly while they waited for the newest member of their odd patchwork family to be awake enough for food. 

"So bets on how long it takes for him to formulate a plan for revenge on Hydra?" Bucky was petting the boy's hair softly as he grinned up at Stephen. 

"He was formulating one the moment Extremis was mentioned." Stephen huffed slightly, Tony's reaction to the youngster had upset him somewhat. 

"So Buck, how long have you known this kid? Is he one of the other Winter Soldiers?" Steve carefully monitored Bucky's reaction to his questions.

Bucky froze. 

"As far as I was aware there were only five others and they've all been killed. Was that incorrect?" Stephen narrowed his eyes at both Bucky and Steve.

Bucky swallowed loudly before shocking almost everyone in the room, "He's my Pup, Nat can explain what those are." Bucky curled protectively around his…. Pup.

Natasha took a deep breath to give herself a moment to organize her thoughts before launching into her explanation, "Pup is a term used in the Red Room to denote one's protege. I was one of Bucky's. There were eight of us, they called us his Pack. Until just now, I thought that I was the only Pup that survived the training." Her lower lip wobbled just slightly before she got her emotions back under control. 

"I see… a much more violent version of my cubs." Stephen sighed and rubbed his temple in what looked to be a vain attempt at staving off a migraine. 

Bucky coughed self-consciously, "I wasn't sure if he was even still alive myself till we found him in that Hydra base. It's part of the reason I reacted the way I did." Steve spied a little bit of movement from Pup. "Hey you awake now?" Bucky sounds like a parent speaking to their toddler, that upsets Steve for some reason that he can't immediately put his finger on. 

Stephen knelt back down next to Jarvis, making sure that he was slow enough not to scare him. "Are you hungry, child? We can go upstairs to the kitchen to get you something to eat if you are."

** "On menya ponimayet? Da, ya golodayu."** _(Does he understand me? Yes I'm starving.)_ Pup seemed hesitant to speak in English for all his apparent understanding of the language. Steve shook his head minutely to tell Jarvis that Stephen didn't really know what he was saying.

Stephen must have gotten the gist of what Pup was saying, because he got back up and walked towards the elevator, giving Pup the option to follow him or not. As Bucky, Pup, Natasha, and Steve followed Stephen into the elevator Stephen asked, "What would you like to eat, child?"

**"Ragu kapitana!"**_(Captain's Stew!)_ His answer was accompanied by a brief but brilliant grin.

"I guess I'm cooking then." Steve spoke up before Bucky could explain what Pup had said. The poor kid whipped around in surprise and blushed all the way up to his ear tips. Steve gave him a small grin. 

**"Al'fa..."**_(Alpha…)_ He trailed off shyly. 

**"Skazhi im svoye imya."**_(Tell them your name.)_ Hearing Bucky's voice go horse and rough when speaking in Russian was jarring and somewhat disturbing as well. 

Pup spoke softly as if he didn't want anyone to hear him, **"Moye oboznacheniye - Zimnyaya Brodyaga. Menya zovut Dzharvis Stark."** _(My designation is Winter's Stray. My name is Jarvis Stark.)_

Steve's breath caught in his throat even as everyone poured out of the elevator into the family floor living room. _ 'No wonder he's so shy, he's terrified of disappointing _ ** _both _ ** _ Bucky and Tony. We'll have to help him see that no one is going to hurt him anymore.' _ Steve was determined not to ruin his chance to offer Jarvis a safe place here within the crazy little family that the Avengers had cobbled together. Loud music can be heard pouring from the lab on this floor. 

"I am definitely not going in there right now. I like being able to hear. FRIDAY lower the volume in the lab a bit please." Stephen huffed at Tony's behavior.

"Yes Doctor. Shall I inform Boss that dinner is going to be served soon? Friday's voice sounded somehow bitter and coldly polite at the same time. 

"Yes,please FRIDAY. That's one child taken care of, only a dozen more to go." Stephen sighed as he turned away from the lab door. 

**"Pochemu Lupa ssylayetsya na ottsa kak rebenka?" ** _(Why is Lupa referring to Father as a child?)_ Bucky choked on his laughter at Jarvis's innocent sounding question. Steve decided to get started on dinner before he got sucked into whatever stupidity Bucky had planned now. _ 'Captain's Stew, huh.' _


End file.
